Metrowerks Offers $99 Tools for Mac OS X

Targeted at novice programmers, the new application development tools suite sells initially for $99.

Metrowerks Corp. Tuesday announced a new low-priced version of its application development tools for the Mac OS X platform.
At the MacWorld Expo show in San Francisco, Metrowerks announced its CodeWarrior Development Studio, Mac OS X Edition. The offering, essentially a repackaged subset of the companys CodeWarrior Development Studio for Mac OS, Professional Edition, Version 8, features wizards and tips that the company says make the tools easy to use and helps to familiarize non-professional developers with professional-class tools and techniques.
Yet, Metrowerks said the new offering is targeted at hobbyists and novice programmers, and is offering it at an introductory price of $99 until Feb. 28. A spokesman for Metrowerks, based in Austin, Texas, said the suite has all the functionality of Version 8 except it does not support the development of applications for Classic Mac OS.

Among the suites ease-of-use features is Code Completion, which speeds the code-writing process by providing developers with the prototypes and parameters they need rather than forcing them to look everything up, the company said. The Metrowerks technology also enables developers to create either C++ or Objective-C applications, the company said.

Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.